On the windswept
frontier between
two nations, a lion
patrols the dry
Nossob riverbed,
center of a vast ref
uge for big game.
Here South Africa's
Kalahari Gemsbok
National Park is
joined by afence
less border with
Botswana's larger
Gemsbok National
Park. Encompass
ing an area larger
than Vermont, they
represent an Afri
can trend toward
transnational parks,
allowing wildlife
free rein in their
natural ecosystems.
Lions and many
other large species
had all but disap
peared from South
Africa by the turn
of the century be
cause of unbridled
hunting by white
settlers. But the
seeds of a remark
able comeback
were planted in the
1890s with the
country's first game
reserves, including
Umfolozi in Natal
and Sabie in Trans
vaal. From the
latter sprang
Kruger National
Park in 1926.